


!'M;n.n,>"'^-A^' 












^^«?i5^1 












/^»/«^''^/ 






^Q^^A^^W'^fl^^V^^' 



«:^.e^^Sf\^ 



KslffiP«SO^ 






'^^^^'y'^mm^^ 



,A,'?-'<^*./^, 



'-^^.A.A^A^/f'^^^h;";^'^ 



sMAAaCI -^ 



t^ ;'^nr~^A 






^^^'^^f^'*^^,^' 



m^^^^ 



^^f^W^A^- 






LIBMM OF CONGRESS. Jl 
^ ! 

I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. J 






:'>_,'-^A^^r^A, 






mf\^N 



'■^^"^^^^^^m"^^^^^. 






^^^A^^l/^/^/i/^^^^a^^; 









>OA"S/r^.^^^^^.AA 



^nAknJLuT 



i^n^^^A, 



.AO^r^A.^-, 












f\r^^rr.. 



^^^M^A^^^V/^/^^' 



^>^^^^^^^^^;i^^^^^ 






^i*ft^<^^^ 



'<s^r\.. r- 



.AAAAft^A ,'^c... 



.A.AA 












,Mr>i 















'''■^'^^i 



,,'^^^A. 



^s«!js:?i%j;^^ 



^^^A^^A 



-"'^^:^:^^^. A^^ 



^KT.AAA^ 



i^'^^flr^o.nn 






^C^^^^^/^A^J^ 



^i^fl*< 






^^./^-/^^ 






,/^^/^,/^/^/^^/^^ 






^Igi^/^^"^ 



^0 ,o .n^^^^ 



f^r<f^^^^f^r\f\, 









^<^A^A^ 






;:o,.aa. ^ 



_^^fi^^^«;^» 



i 



Eatered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 

J. J. JANEWAY, D. D., 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the 

District of New Jersey. 



HOPE FOR MY COUNTRY : 



SHCiWING THE 



iittttitg 0f ^mB C|riBt, 



AND 



HIS CARE OVER HIS OHUROH, 



AS EXHIBITED IN THE PAST 



HISTORY OP OUR COUNTRY. 



I^T 'T-X/VO 




PRESS OF J. TERHUNE, 31 ALBANY STREET. 



PREFACE. 



THE FOUNDATIONS OF MY HOPE. 



The main foundation of my hope is — 

I. The GREAT TRUTH that Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, is truly 

God, invested hy the Father with universal power in heaven 
and on earth. 

II. The fact that He provided for his saints an abode in North 
America, far removed from the deadly hate and persecution 
of the Romish Church in the Old "World ; where they have 
enjoyed civil and religious liberty, and worshipped God undis- 
turbed, and in conformity to the 'prescriptions of his own 
inspired word. 

III. By the reviving influence of the Holy Spirit, shed down by 
Jesus Christ, his saints have greatly multiplied. 

IV. His saints, by spreading abroad the influence of religious 
truth and sound morality, and by establishing Bible and Mis- 
simiary Societies, and various benevolent and charitable institu- 
tions, have exerted a salutary influence on the affairs of the 
nation, and greatly benefited foreigners who have come here to 
participate in, the blessings of our happy country. 



HOPE FOE lY COTJNTEY. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE LORD BEIGNETH JEHaVAH JESUS. 

My hope is founded, I believe, on a firm foundation. 
The several grounds on which it rests shall be distinctly 
stated. 

I. The first is the great truth asserted in the nineiy-seventh 
psalm : " The Lord reignethf that is, Jehovah Jesus. 

By all evangelical and sound interpreters of the Sacred 
Scriptures, who believe in their plenary inspiration, this 
psalm is regarded as containing a prophecy of the kingdom 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Such interpreters of the Scriptures believe that the doc- 
trine of the adorable Trinity was revealed in the Old as well 
as in the New Testament. In this psalm Jesus Christ is 
expressly denomitated, in the -SeSrew original, Jehovah; 
a name never given to any mere creature, however exalted. 
All gods or angels are required to worship him. (See v. 7.) 

We offer the following as additional proofs that the doc- 
trine of the Trinity is taught in the Old Testament. 

The fir&t verse in Genesis says, " In the beginning God 
(original Ehhim) created the heaven and the earth." Here 
we have the first person of this mysterious doctrine ; for no 
one will deny that He who created all things out of nothing 
is truly God. 



* 

DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 



The second verse of the same chapter is in these words : 
■" And the earth was without form, and void ; and darkness 
was upon the face of the deep : and the Spirit of God moved 
upon the face of the waters." ISTow, as the Scriptures of 
both Testaments ascribe to the Spirit of Grod divine names, 
divine attributes, and divine worship, why should any deny 
him to be a divine person as well as the Father? Here, 
then, are two persons in one Godhead presented to view in 
the two first verses of the first book of the Bible. 

Again, in the sixth chapter of this book and third verse, 
we find another testimony to the divine personality, and the 
Godhead of the Spirit; for there it is written, "And the 
Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, &c." 

To find another person, regarded, by the orthodox, as the 
second person in the Godhead, we have only to turn to Gen. 
xviii. ; and there we shall see Him not only denominated 
Jehovah six times, as in Ps. xcvii. 1, but invested with 
divine attributes and receiving divine worship. 

In i]iQ first verse he is called Jehoyah, and is so denomi- 
nated yZ we times more. (vs. 13, 14, 17, 27, and 33.) Abra- 
ham "sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; and he 
lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, lo, three men stood by 
him." They appeared as men. Mark the hospitality of 
the patriarch. (See vs. 2-9.) 

In vs. 10 and 15 the Lord exercises omnipotence and om- 
niscience in his promise, and in detecting the sin of Sarah, 
whom he had not seen. 

In verses 23-32 Abraham shows that he knew with whom 
he conversed; for he addresses him as "the Judge of all the 
earth." (v. 25.) And in the other verses referred to he 
worships him as God, with all humility, as Jehovah, while 
he felt himself to be " but dust and ashes." (v. 27. See 
also vs. 30-33.) 

How manifest, that Abraham knew how to distinguish 
his Lord and Master from his two attendants, who departed 



PROOFS ?ROM THE OLD TESTAMENT, 7 

from Him and went to Sodom ; and in the first verse of the 
next chapter are called tioo angels, who appeared to Lot as 
he sat in the gate of Sodom. 

In the third chaptei- of Eocodus our Redeemer revealed himself 
as Jehovah to Moses. 

Eeader, peruse that chapter carefully ; for it is said in the 
second verse, " And the angel of the Lord appeared unto 
him in a flame of fire in the midst of a bush." Beyond 
question, that angel was not a mere creature, however 
exalted, for he is denominated JehoVAH, which name is 
never applied to any created being. Besides, when Moses 
said, " I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why 
the bush is not burnt," (v. 3,) it follows in v. 4, " And when 
the Lord (Jehovah) saw that he turned aside to see, God 
(original Mohim) called to him out of the midst of the bush , 
Moses, Moses, and he said, Here am I. And he said, (v. 5,) 
Draw not nigh hither : put off" thy shoes from off thy feet ; 
for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." And 
then in the next verse He assumes this most lofty title : " I 
am the God of thy father, ('fathers,' says Adam Clarke,) 
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of 
Jacob. And Moses hid his face ; for he was afraid to look 
upon God." 

It is plain, even from the English translation, that He 
who appeared to Moses in the burning bush, as Jehovah, is 
the same person who spake to him as God, (plural form,) 
and from whom " Moses hid his face ; for he was afraid to 
look upon God." (original Elohim.) 

Then in the seventh verse He resumes his name Loed (orig- 
inal Jehovah,) and addresses Moses, saying, " I have surely 
seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, &c.'' 
(See vs. 7-10.) 

And in the eleventh verse Moses addresses Him as God. 
(original Elohim) Thus the names are interchanged. 

In answer to the question which Moses supposed the 



8 DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

children of Israel would put to Mm, '• What is his name?' 
what shall I say unto them ?" our Eedeemer, God, replied, 
" I AM THAT I AM : and he said, Thus shalt thou say 
unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." 
(See vs. 13, 14.) 

"And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou 
say unto the children of Israel, The God of Abraham,, the 
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you : 
this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all. 
generations." (v. 15.) 

Now read what Moses was to say to the elders of Israeli. 
(See vs. 16, 17.) Then what Moses and the elders of Israel 
were to say unto the king of Egypt, and his obstinate 
refusal. (See vs. 18, 19.) Then read how God would com- 
pel the proud king to yield, and how he would give the 
people of Israel favor in the sight of the Egyptians. (See 
vs. 20-22.) Now read the fourth chapter. 

A similar appearance of God our Saviour waa made to 
Joshua. (See Josh. v. 13-15.) 

Joshua and Caleb were two of the spies whom Moses had 
sent to spy out the land of Canaan, who brought a favorable 
report, in opposition to the report of the ten, who had made 
one so different and so discouraging that the people deter- 
mined to stone them, and would have killed them had they 
not been protected by " the glory of the Lord appearing in, 
the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of 
Israel." (See Num. xiii. 3 and xiv. 8-10. See the remain- 
der.) 

Moses was commanded to rehearse in the ears of Joshua, 
what he was directed to write as a memorial in a book- 
(Exod. xvii. 14.) But when "the Lord spake to Moses, 
face to face, as a man speaketh to a friend, and he turned; 
again into the camp ;" it is written, " But his servant Joshua, 
the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the taber- 
nacle." What an honor 1 (Exod. xxxiii. 11.) 



PROOFS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT. 9 

As JosTaua was designed to be Moses' successor, he was 
much with that great man, and every thing necessary to fit 
him for his exalted station was done. It is written, Deut. 
xxxii. 44, "And Moses came and spake all the words of 
this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son 
of Nun." It is recorded, " And Joshua the son of JSTun was 
full of the spirit of wisdom ; for Moses had laid his hands 
upon him : and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, 
and did as the Lord commanded Moses." (Deut. xxxiv. 9.) 

Being thus prepared by his intercourse with Moses, by 
reading his writings, and by knowing the appearance which 
the Son of Grod, the second Person in the adorable Trinity, 
had made to Abraham and to Moses ; and having witnessed 
his own deliverance from the rage of the people, who were 
determined to murder him for his fidelity and courage, in 
bringing a true report of the promised land, and exhorting 
the people to obey God ; by the appearance of the glory of 
the Lord over the tabernacle, which Moses had entered to 
intercede for them, and prevailed ; and how he was permit- 
ted to remain behind when Moses had departed from the 
tabernacle ; — ^he was prepared to understand the appearance 
of the same personage to himself. (See Josh. v. 13-15.) On 
this appearance the reader will notice three particulars. 

First — The courage of Joshua in advancing to meet the 
man who " stood over against him with his sword drawn in 
his hand," to put i]^& question, "Art thou for us, or for our 
adversaries ?" 

Second — How readily, on receiving his answer that he 

was " captain of the host of the Lord," he recognized Him 

as such, " fell on his face to the earth, did worship," and 

inquired, "What saith my Lord to his servant ?" 

. Third — How promptly he complied with his command,, 

_ by taking off his shoe from off his foot !. 

When a sincere Christian compares what is written in the 



10 DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Old Testament with wtat is more plainly revealed in tlie 
New, concerning Jesus Christ, our Kedeemer — 

1. In John i. 1-11 ; 

2. In the first chapter to the Ephesians ; 

3. In chap. ii. 5-15 to the Philippians ; 

4. lu chap. i. 9-23 to the Oolossians ; 

5. In the first chaipter of the epistle to the Hebrews — 

it seems to me impossible, that a Christian, truly enlightened 
and converted by the Spirit of God, should entertain a doubt 
that Jesus Christ, our Eedeemer, is truly God, Immannel, 
God with us. He will, certainly, with all his heart, I think, 
subscribe to what Paul has written : " And without contro- 
versy, great is the mystery of godliness : God was manifest 
in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached 
unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into 
glory." (1 Tim. iii. 16.) 

I am aware of an objection against the divinity of our 
Lord, founded on these words : " If ye loved me, ye would 
rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father : for my Father 
is greater than I." (John xiv. 28.) These words I cheer- 
fully recite ; because a satisfactory answer has been furnished 
by Christ himself, as we shall presently see. 

But I cannot leave this objection without remarking that 
it is feeble, and must appear so to any intelligent person, who 
will review attentively and carefully the strong and plain tes- 
timonies that have been presented on this subject from both 
Testaments, the Old as well as the New, to establish our 
faith in that fundamental truth, that Jesus Christ is truly 
God and truly MAN in one Person. 

Indeed, as already stated. He himself has, in several places,, 
taught us how to answer and remove it. In fact, the very 
chapter containing the words on which it is founded, exhibits 
the kindness of our Eedeemer, in guarding against a misin- 
terpretation of the words he knew he was about to utter. 
(See John xiv. 9-14. The remainder of the chapter bears 
on the subject. 



PROOFS PKOM THE NEW TESTAMENT. 11 



JOHN X. 

This chapter contains several proofs of the divinity of 
Christ. 

First — He was the good shepherd, who laid down his life 
for his sheep (v. 11) ; who knew his sheep and was known 
by them. (v. 14.) ; who knew all, who should, in all future 
time, belong to his flock (v. 16) ; who gave eternal life to 
all, and would preserve all his sheep (vs. 27, 28) ; who- had 
a perfect right to dispose of his own life, and had power to 
resume it, by raising himself from the dead. (vs. 17, 18.) 

Such qualifications were found in Christ as are possessed 
by no created being ; for no creature has a right to dispose 
of his own life ; but Christ assumed the nature of a man for 
the very purpose of laying his life down and taking it again. 

N"o created being was capable of famishing the righteous- 
ness required for justifying sinners, because the law under 
which a creature is placed by his creation demanded perfect 
obedience, and the fall exertion of all his faculties. But 
Christ voluntarily assumed human nature, and placed him- 
self under the law given to mau, that he might fulfil all its 
requirements, and thus magnify and render it honorable for 
the use and benefit of believing sinners. Being a divine 
person, he was able to sustain his human nature under the 
punishment due to the sins of men, and to impart an infinite 
value to all that he did and suffered for sinners. 

Morever, being a divine person. He was omniscient^ and 
could know all his sheep, and almighty^ could preserve them 
from all enemies, safely to the full enjoyment of eternal life. 

Second — Jesus Christ affirms expressly, "As the Father 
knoweth me, even so know I the Father." (v. 15.) And 
after asserting the omnipotence of his Father, (v. 29,) 
he af&rms, " I and my Father are one." Thus we are 
taught that He was both omniscient and almighty. 



12 DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

The Jews charged him with blasphemy, and therefore 
"took up stones to stone him." (vs. 31, 32.) To this infa- 
mous accusation, our Lord made the reply (vs. 84r-88) in 
which we find these words : " Say ye of him, whom the 
Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou bias- 
phemest, because I said, I am the Son of Grod ? If I do not 
the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though 
you believe not me, believe the works ; that ye may know 
and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him." 
. This justification was unavailing. The Jews would insist 
that he was a man, and " therefore they sought again to 
take him ; but he escaped out of their hand." 

All were not unbelieving. " Many resorted unto his 
abode, and said, John did no miracle : but all things that 
John spake of this man were true. And many believed on 
him there." (vs. 40-42.) 

The error of the Jews consisted in obstinately refusing, 
contrary to his explicit teaching, confirmed by innumerable 
and astonishing miracles, that he was the Son of Grod, and 
that He and his Father were one God; the Father being in 
Him and He in the Father. They insisted, in opposition to 
the abundant evidence presented to them, that he was a 
mere man. 

We are taught by the Master himself how to understand 
his statements seemingly opposite. 

As a man, he was infinitely below God. Had he been, as 
the Jews afiirmed, a mere man, and not the Son of God, as 
He af&rmed and his miracles proved, his claim to be equal 
to God would have been blasphemy of the highest kind ; for 
which he would have deserved execration and death. 

Note. — If the reader will compare this chapter witli the eighth, he mil find 
how they correspond in regard to the argument used by our Lord in vindicating 
himself against the cavils, and accusations, and blasphemies of the unbelieving 
Jews, and in showing how obstinate they were in unbelief, and determined to 
destroy him. On this account I obliterated a page or more which had been 
written on that chapter. 

Dr. Scott puts the date of both chapters A. D. 32. 



PROOFS PROM THE NEW TESTAMENT, 13 



UNITARIANS LIKE THE OiEWS. 



This place I cannot leave without remarking how closely 
Unitarians imitate the perverse conduct of the Jews. They 
believe our Lord when he says, " My Fatner is greater than 
I ;" because that accords with their preconceived notions. 
But when he affirms, " I am the Son of God," and again, 
" My Father and I are one," and claims equality with God ; 
they turn away from such assertions as incredible ; although 
the Redeemer appeals to innumerable and astonishing mira- 
cles, as seals of the truth of his teaching ; and while they 
profess to acknowledge Him as a teacher come from heaven, 
how can the reception of him as a heavenly teacher be 
reconciled with a rejection of his solemn affirmations ? Is 
not their conduct really absurd, and utterly irreconcilable 
with their profession of high respect for their teacher ? 



MIRACLES — PROOFS OF OHBIST's DIVINrTT. 

They were innumerably and truly astonishing. Who 
■can read what the Evangelists have recorded, and deny this 
assertion ? They were performed by a word^ by a touch of 
his garment. Unclean spirits, at his command, left persons 
whom they had entered and greivously tormented; the lame 
walked ; the dumb spake ; the ears of the deaf were opened ; 
the eyes of the blind saw ; the sick of the palsy were healed ; 
the dead came to life and lived again ; the winds and the 
waves obeyed him ; he walked upon the stormy sea. 

Miracles were wrought by His own divine power. He 
^pake like God: "I will; be thou clean." He controlled 
tiie human will at his pleasure. " To Simon, and Andrew 
his brother, casting a net into the sea," Jesus said, " Come 
je after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. 



14 DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him." 
" He saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, 
who were also in the ship mending their nets, and straight- 
way he called them : and they left their father Zebedee in 
the ship with the h^ed servants^ and went after him." (Mark 
i. 16-20.) " He came to " Simon's wife's mother, who lay 
sick of a fever, and took her by the hand, and lifted her up ; 
and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto 
them." (vs. 30, 31.) 

One more miracle we notice to show that Jesus had power 
on earth to forgive sins, and we shall leave the miracles 
recorded by Mark. The friends of a man sick of the palsy, 
anxious to bring him near to Jesus, let him down on his 
bed through the roof of the house. " When Jesus saw their 
faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be 
forgiven thee." The scribes said in their hearts, " Why 
doth this man speak blasphemies ? who can forgive sins but 
Grod only ?" He knew their thoughts. 

And to convince them that he was God, he asked them, 
" Is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be 
forgiven thee ? or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and 
walk ? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath 
power on earth to forgive sins^ (he saith to the sick of the 
palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go 
thy way into thy house. And immediately he arose, took 
up his bed, and went forth before them all ; insomuch that 
they were all amazed, and glorified Grod, saying, We never 
saw it on this fashion." 

And why do not Unitarians believe the historical record 
of Mark, written under the inspiration of Grod? They 
must pay the awful penalty of unbelief. K they persist m 
refusing to acknowledge Jesus Christ to be the Son of God,_ 
and to be equal to the Father, as he has af&rmed again and 
again that he is — if they continue to rely on their own in> 
perfect and polluted works, and to reject the offered right- 



PROOFS FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT.. 15 

eousness and atonement of Jesus Christ, they will and must 
die in their sins, with the unbelieving Jews, as he has said. 

Having passed by the testimony of the old prophets 
referred to by Mark, the testimony of John, the opening of 
the heavens at the baptism of Jesus, the descent of the 
Spirit upon him, the voice from heaven, " Thou art my be- 
loved Son, in whom I am well pleased " — ^I content myself, 
for brevity's sake, to request my readers to peruse MarFs 
first chapter, from the first to the twelfth verse. 

Being the Son of God, and one with the Father, He justly 
claimed to be equal to God, and therefore he could, without 
derogating at ajl from the glory due to God, use the lan- 
guage which we shall presently see he used in the eighteenth 
chapter of John, where he intercedes for his people. 

Previously I wish to cite what Paul writes on this subject 
(Heb. vii. 26-28) : " For such an high priest became us, who 
is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and 
made higher than the heavens ; who needeth not daily, as 

those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for ; for 

this he did once, when he offered up himself For the law 
maketh men high priests which have infirmity ; but the 
word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son^ 
who is consecrated for evermore." 

"We are now prepared to hear the language which our 
great high priest utters, (John xvii.) so fitting to his exalted 
and divine character : " These words spake Jesus, and lifted 
up his eyes to heaven, and said. Father, the hour is come \ 
glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee : as thou 
hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give 
eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this 
is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, 
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified 
thee on earth : I have finished the work which thou gavest 
me to do. And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine 
own self with the glory which I had with thee tefore the 
world was." (vs. 1-5.) 



16 DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

" I have manifested thy name unto tlie men wlaicli thou 
gavest me out of the world : thine they were, and thou 
gavest them me ; and they have kept thy word. ISTow they 
have known that whatsoever thou hast given me, are of 
thee : for I have given unto them the words which thou 
gavest me ; and they have received them, and have known 
surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed 
that thou didst send me." (vs. 6-8.) 

" I pray for them : I pray not for the world, but for them 
which thou hast given me ; for they are thine. And all 
mine are thine, and thine are mine ; and I am glorified in 
them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are 
in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep 
through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, 
that they may be one, as we are" (vs. 9-11.) 

" Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which 
shall believe on me through their word ; that they all may 
be one ; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they 
also may be one in us : that the world may believe that 
thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me 
I have given them ; that they may be one, even as we are 
one : I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made 
perfect in one : and that the world may know that thou hast 
sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (vs. 
20-23.) 

" Father, I WILL that they also whom thou hast given me 
be with me where I am ; that they may behold my glory, 
which thou hast given me : for thou lovedst me before the 
foundation of the world." (v. 24. See also vs. 25, 26.) 

Having thus prepared the way, we now invite the read- 
er's attention to John xiv. 1-11. The Eedeemer had told 
his disciples that he was about to leave them. Apprised of 
the coming event, which contradicted their expectations of 
a secular kingdom, they were greatly troubled. To raise 
their depressed spirits. He addressed them in a manner. 



THE REWARD OF THE FAITHFUL. 1^ 

suited to their circumstances. He exhorts them tO' believe 
both in God and in himself. By cultivating such a faith,, 
he taught them they would find that, as it grew, by an in- 
creasing supply of the Spirit's influence leading them to 
look forward to those mansions in his Father's house, which 
he was going to prepare for their reception, as each individ- 
ual should be removed by death to heaven : to which blessed 
place He would, at the end of time, receive all his believing 
saints, raised from the dead, and made like himself both in 
soul and body, perfectly free from all sin, to live and reign 
with him through eternal ages : to the glory of God's free 
grace- in his Son Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Behold God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy 
Ghost, three .persons in oke Godhead, whom Trinitarians 
adore, and worship, and supremely love — incomprehensible 
indeed ; for what finite mind can comprehend an infinite 
Being ? 

All who wish to be saved, must, according to the belief 
of orthodox Christians, conform their views of religious 
truth to God's revelation of himself, for this plain reason, 
that he knows himself perfectly. They must profess before 
the world such to be their faith, and that by such faith in 
Christ, the Son of God, and simple reliance on what he has 
done by his obedience and sufferings, for sinners of our race, 
they hope to receive the pardon of all their sins, and to 
obtain every other blessing comprehended in eternal life ; 
and all of free, rich, and sovereign grace. 

Such is the foundation of my hope, which I would not 
exchange for wcyrlds. But as Unitarians rely on their own 
works, they may sneer at my faith and hope. The trial 
of the foundation of my hope and theirs is to be made when 
we go into the eternal world. Then it will be seen who has 
built on a rock and who on the sand. (See Matt. vii. 24-29.) 

Unitarians^ unbelieving as they are, respect Jesus Christ 
as a good, upright, and wise teacher, sent by God to enlight- 
2 



18 DIVINITT OF JESUS CHRIST. 

en and reform tlae world by his instructions, and by a good 
and boly example ; and therefore cannot disregard his ad- 
monition in the above cited passage. And will they not 
deeply meditate upon it ? Surely, it is a subject of vast 
importance ! 

The passages referred to in John, were spoken by our 
Eedeemer, A. D. 32, 33 ; but those in Matt, xi., from which 
we are about to quote his words, in confirmation of his 
words recorded by John, were uttered by our Lord as early 
as the year 80. 

Matthew recorded in his chapter these remarkable words 
of our Saviour : "At that time Jesus answered and said, I 
thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because 
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and 
hast revealed them unto hahes. Even so. Father ; for so it 
seemeth good in 'thy sight. All things are delivered unto 
me of my Father : and no man knoweth the Son, but the 
Father ; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, 
and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." 

" Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, 
and I WILL give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and 
learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye 
shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and 
my burden is light." (Matt. xi. 25-30.) 

In chap. xii. v. 6, addressing the murmuring Pharisees, 
our Lord said, " But I say unto you, That in this place is 
one greater than the temple;" and (v. 8) "For the Son of 
man is Lord even of the sabbath-day." 

Such is the uniform doctrine which our Eedeemer openly 
taught, from the beginning to the end of his ministry on the 
earth. He confirmed the truth by his spotless life, and by 
innumerable and astonishing miracles, which his Jewish 
enemies could not deny ; some of which miracles he per- 
formed, not as the prophets did theirs, but in his own name, 
speaking as God. The people were amazed — the Phari- 
sees blasphemed. (See chap. xii. 22-37.) 



UNITARrANS IDOLATEKSi 19> 

Why are Unitarians free from open and gross idolatry.,. 
like that of the heathen ? They owe it to the fact that they 
live in a country blessed with the light of God's revelation,, 
which has driven images, as objects of worship, to the moles- 
and the bats. (Isaiah ii. 20, 21.) No heathen philosopher,, 
however wise, ever escaped the degradation of gross and open 
idolatry. Cicero and Plato, and others,, were carried away 
by the folly of the multitude, and a desire to gratify their 
own lusts, under the cloah of religion. Kead what an apos- 
tle has written. (Eom. i. 18-32.) Profane history confirms 
this sad account. Even Socrates ordered a cock to be sacri- 
ficed to ^sculapius. 

But Unitarians, although they owe their freedom from 
the same degradation to their living in a Christian country, 
as already mentioned, yet most ungratefully tear from God's 
holy word its very heart and life, by denying its plenary 
inspiration, the divinity and atonement of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, the personality and divinity of the Holy Spirit, and 
other fundamental doctrines of the Holy Scriptures. 

And this they do at the risk of losing their immortal 
souls ; for no man who, through pride of heart, relies on his 
own imperftct and polluted works, can be saved. Of this 
they are warned by Paul, in his argument on justification, in 
his epistle to the Eomans. (See chapters ii., iii. and iv.) 

A mortal monarch prescribes a dress and ceremonies, to 
which even ambassadors must conform, to obtain, admission 
into his majesty's presence ;. but poor sinful mortals, all pol- 
luted as they are, in fact, though they know it not, dare to 
reject the glorious robe of righteousness,, wrought out by 
the Son of God, and ofiered in the gospel to all who hear it*. 
Proud sinners will venture to rush into the presence of 
the great Monarch of the Universe, in the filthy rags of" 
their own righteousness, dreaming of heaven when they are 
doomed to hell. What extreme infatuation ! "0 that 
they were wise! that they would consider their latter 
endl" 



20 DIVINITY OF JKSPS CHRIST. 



UNITARIANISM NOT TRUTH A FIGMENT. 

A Unitarian denies the plenary inspiration of the Sacred 
Scriptures ; he remains in a natural, unenlightened, unre- 
newed state ; he rejects all the testimonies, both of the Old 
and New Testaments, to the true divinity of our Lord and 
Master, Jesus Christ; — he perversely refuses to regard 
the following plain declarations of our Eedeemer, whom he 
professes to acknowledge as a teacher sent from Grod : 

This heavenly teacher said to the Jews, and says to us, 
" If ye believe not that I am he, je shall die in your sins. 
(John viii. 24.) The lowest meaning that can be put on 
these words is, that unless the Jews believed that he was 
what he had uniformly taught them he was, they should die 
in their sins. And what had he taught them from the be- 
ginning of his ministry ? Certainly he had avowed himself 
to be the Son of Grod, and had claimed to be equal to God 
his Father. His whole argument in this chapter proves at 
least this much. 

But as the word he not being in the original, is supplied, 
he may have looked beyond it to his pre-e:^tent state. 
And that this was our Eedeemer's meaning, is confirmed by 
his claiming existence before Abraham, saying, (v. 56,) 
" Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day ; and he 
saw it, and was glad ;" and in reply to the objection of the 
Jews, af&rming, (v. 58,) "Yerily, verily, I say unto you 
Before Abraham was, I AM." 

Can any man disbelieve this solemn affirmation of Jesus 
Christ, while he professes to entertain any regard for him as 
a teacher sent from God ? How exactly this agrees with 
what our Eedeemer said to Moses, when he appeared to him 
in the wilderness, at Mount Horeb, and commissioned him 
to address the elders of Israel, and say unto them, "I am 
that I am ;" " The God of your fathers^ &c., hath sent me 
unto you." (See p. 8.) 



HIS EQUALITT WITH GOD. 21 



MINISTRATIONS OF UNITARIANS INVALID. 

Here, in proof of ttis heading, I shall recite from the 
Digest, prepared by the writer, as Chairman of the Com- 
mittee who reported to the Assembly of 1819, and who 
were ordered to finish it; and then, at the suggestion of the 
Moderator, Dr. John H. Eice, to print yowr thousand copies, 
and offer them for sale at a reasonable price, the following 
quotation relating to Unitarians : 

"It is the deliberate and unanimoits opinion of this Assem- 
bly, that those who renounce the fundamental doctrine of 
the Trinity, and deny that Jesus Christ is the same in sub- 
stance, equal in power and glory with the Father, cannot be 
recognized as ministers of the Gospel, and that their minis- 
trations are wholly invalid." (Year 1814, Digest, p. 96.) 
The above was copied from the written minutes, since 
printed and published, and to be found on page 549.* 

The subject came before the Assembly through the Com- 
mittee of Overtures from the Presbytery of Hanover, and 
from a question submitted by a member of that Presbytery, 
in regard to the validity o£ baptism administered by Dr. 
Priestley, a Unitarian. 

After considerable discussion the question was referred to 
Drs. Griffin and Muir, and Mr. Leland, (now Dr.) to con- 
sider and report to the Assembly, (p. 546.) Their report 
is found on page 649, from which the preceding is an ex- 
tract. 

This Assembly convened in 1814, in Philadelphia ; and 
just twenty-three years had elapsed when the Assembly 
convened in the same city in 1837 ; at which time the dis- 
ruption of the Presbyterian Church, into the Old School and 
the New School took place \ an event which may, by a kind 

* The whole report may be found on page 134 of printed Extracts. 



■;22 DIVINITT t)F JESUS C©RIST. 

Providence, be overruled, we hope, for the establishment 
of sound scriptural doctrine and correct scriptural church 
government. 

Following what he fully believed the leadings of Provi- 
dence, the writer was led, after his return from the West, 
contrary to his expectation, to form a connexion with the 
Eeformed Protestant Dutch Church, in which he had been 
born, educated, and licensed to preach the gospel, but or- 
dained in 1799 by the Presbytery of Philadelphia. In con- 
nexion with the Presbyterian Church, he had lived and 
labored more than thirtT/ years ; and after a scTjourn of about 
nine years in his native church. Providence was pleased to 
send me back to the church in which the greater part of my 
ministerial life had been spent. 

His venerated precejitor, the Rev. John H. Livingston, 
D. D., S. T. P., justly observed, " "We hold a perfect unity 
of the Godhead ; and therefore cannot allow to Unitarians 
the name they have' assumed to distinguish themselves from 
Trinitarians. ' '* 

We insist, that this class of professing Christians are not 
entitled to a name, designed to imply an unjust and false 
reflection on us, that we do not believe in the existence of 
ONE God. 

-And now, to justify the heading of this particular part of 
our reasoning, I subjoin io the preceding, that the unity 
we avow is more perfect than that of the self-styled Unita- 
rians ; for we believe what God has revealed of himself. It 
has been shown, that the -doctrine of a Trinity meets the 
reader's eye in the first chapter of the Bible. 

Deut. vi. 4, in the preface to the first commandment, pre- 
sents it in a most emphatic way : " Hear, Israel, the Lord 
(original Jehovah) oue God (Elohime, plural form,) is one 



Note. — He died at New- Brunswick, or rather fell asleep in Jesus, in the 
.79th. year of his age. (See his memoirs.) 



PROOFS FROM THB NEW TESTAMKNT. 23 

Lord." (original one Jehovah.) In like manner tlie plural 
form is nsed in the first commaftdment. 

No intelligent, sane man will deny that God knows him- 
self infinitely better than any human being can know him,* 

To the passage transcribed from Matt. xi. 27, the reader 
is referred, or to his Bible, as he may choose ; because it 
will not be quoted again, except as it will be analyzed, for 
the purpose of showing that it contains three proofs of the 
Redeemer's divinity. 

The first proof is found in this affirmation : " All things 
are delivered unto me of my Father." If Christ were not a 
divine person, he would be incapable of receiving, uphold- 
ing, and governing all things. But Paul teaches us, that 
" All things were created by him, and j/br him ; and that he 
was before all things, and by him all things consist." (Col. i. 
16-19. Read the whole chapter.) 

Second proof — He affirms, " No man knoweth the Son, 
but the Father ;" teaching us that it requires an infinite per- 
son to know Him the Son. 

Third proof — He affirms, "Neither knoweth any man the 
Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will 
reveal him." This proves Him to be a divine person ; be 
cause he is capable of comprehending a divine person, which 
is far beyond the capacity of any human or angelic creature, 
and able to reveal his Father to any human mind He may 
please to select. 

But all these evidences of Christ's divinity, and all others 
contained in the Scriptures of truth, the self-styled Unitarians 
reject ; together with the following plain and solemn declar- 
ations of the great teacher ; because they deny the plenary 
inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, and prefer reliance on 
the speculations of human reason to submission to the 
teachings of God's own word. 

* For the meaning of the word God, Mohime, see Parkhdh8t'8 Hebrew and 
English Lexicon, Drs. T. Soott and Adam Clakkk's Commentaries ; and on Deut- 
eronomy see the Commentaries of the same writers. 



2i HCIVINITT OF JESUS CHRIST. 

How fearful and infatuated to disbelieve tlie following 
solemn declarations of Jesiss Christ ! Hear tliem : 

" Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a naan be born 
again, be cannot see the kingdom of God." " Verily, verily, 
I say unto tbee, except a man be born of water, and of the 
• Spirit, bo cannot enter into the kingdom of God." 

■" That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which, 
is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John iii. 3-13.) 

" He that believeth on him is not condemned : but he 
that believeth not is condemned alreadyj* because he hath 
not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God* 
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the 
world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because 
their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth 
the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should 
be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, 
that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought 
iin God" (vs. 18-21.) 

The Scriptures teach us that no idolater, nor covetous 
shall inherit the kingdom of God. See in what class the 
covetous are placed, (1 Cor. vi. 9, 10.) Covetousness is ex- 
pressly stigmatized as idolatry. 

Now if Unitarians believe Trinitarians to be idolaters, as 
we must be, according to their creed, they ought, in com- 
passion to our miserable condition, to warn us of our dan- 
ger, and tell us the truth plainly. But as a denomination 
they do not. It would be departing from the usual policy 
of heresy. Unitarianism entered Boston in a secret way. 
Its advocates avoided carefully plain speaking. Had they 
avowed openly their creed and its consequences, they would 
have shocked the feelings of the orthodox. This policy 
they still, as a body, observe, as far as I know ; though, 
under the excitement of argument, individuals will retort 
such, a charge on Trinitarians. Such concealment, consid- 
ering how long they have existed as a denomination in this 



XTNITAKANS IDOLATERS. 25 

-country, cannot be justifiei. If the Apostles had acted on 
;this timid policy, when W5uld Christianity have banished 
lieathenism from any part of the world ? Unitarians would 
•even now be open and gros idolators, had not the Apostles 
acted on a courageous and magnanimous policy, worthy of 
'Of truth and their commisson from their Lord and Master. 
(See Acts iv. 19, 20.) 

And now, compassionatiig the dangerous condition of 
Unitarians, and in humble initation of the Apostles, and in 
faithfulness to our Lord and Master, and to glorify Him, we 
tell Unitarians, — You are iiolaters- — not by worshipping 
images, but by withholding worship from the God whom 
Trinitarians adore, and serve and love, and by worshipping 
a God who has no existence, and is a figment of a diseased 
mind. 

The mournful cause of ths fatal error has been stated 
very plainly by the apostle laul, who has written, (1 Cor. 
ii. 14,) " But the natural man (such as man is by his birth, 
and remains till enlightened tnd renewed by the Spirit of 
God) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God : for they 
.■are foolishness unto him ; neitler can he know them, because 
they are spiritually discerned.' Their very creed sets them 
in opposition to the great anc necessary change ; for they 
■deny both the personality ard the divinity of the Holy 
Ghost, and will neither seek nor ask for his grace. Were 
they to become subjects of his renewing influence, and to 
experience the great change taaght in this passage, to be so 
necessary, they would soon abandon a creed entirely oppo- 
site to the teachings of the Bib.e, and so dishonorable to the 
true God as he has revealed tmself. Their creed can no 
more be adjusted to this passage, nor coalesce with the 
teachings either of the Old or of the New Testaments, than 
water and fire can combine into one element. 

The charge of idolatry, brought against Unitarians, lies 
against every man, however orthodox in speculation may be 



26 DIVTNITY OF JESt/ rs CHRTST. 

his creed, who secretly cherishes i an idol of any kind in Ms 
heart ; against Trinitarians who ;igive the supremacy of their 
hearts to any creature or thing,!, and do not love the true 
God with all their hearts. This is the essence of idolatry ; 
for the first and great comma adment is expressed thus: 
" Thou shalt have no other gods before me ;" or as expressed 
by our Lord, " Thou shalt loj v^e the Lord thy God, &c." 
(Mark xii. 29, 30.) Here is thei essence of sin and idolatry.* 
Whoever loves any creature, oil: thing, or himself more than 
God, is an idolater. What a "wide compass has this great 
commandment ! In fact, it in icludes every individual who 
has not been enlightened and ipenewed by the Spirit of God, 
who has not experienced the g, reat change indicated by the 
apostle Paul, in the passage ciijted above. 

The writer has great reasonj. to be grateful to a merciful 
God for the restraints of his pnicovidence and grace, by which 



he was kept, during his unreg 
and gross violations of His 
prompted by his native depra 



generate state, from those open 
holy law, to which he was 
,vity. 



And with shame and hur'niliation, he confesses that he 
•had just entered his twentiet h year, when it pleased God, 
in infinite mercy, to begin, oi\. the first day of the year 1794, 
the work of conviction and illumination, which he is satis- 
fied, resulted in the early part of that year, in a great change 
of his views and purposes, and of his heart and life ; for 
which he has ever since praiised God through his life, and 
hopes to praise him through eternal ages in heaven. 

Yet he believes that had -death cut short his life at any 
time after his moral agency commenced, and before he be- 
came the subject of the grefit change, he would have been 
cast away — lost forever. 

Knowing the absolute necessity of this change, and how 
precious it is, I cannot but pity those who have never expe- 

* See the Largei- and Shorter Catechism. 



HIS OMNISCIENCE AND OMNIPOTENCE. 27 

Tienced it, and pray for them. ITor can I cease praying for 
tlie arrival of the promised day, when the fullness of Israel 
and the fullness of the Gentiles having arrived, this blessed 
change shall be experienced by vast multitudes, and all 
heresies shall flee away before the light of the Millenium ; 
and when the ^^ resV of our -divine Kedeemer "shall be 
GLORIOUS." (Isaiah si. 10.) 

I thought I had done with the miracles recorded by 
Mark, but reading recently in family worship his eleventh 
chapter, my attention was attracted by the exhibition of the 
omniscience and perfect control of our Eedeemer over the 
minds and wills of all men on whom he was pleased, at any 
time, to put forth his omnipotence. (See vs. 1-7.) Will my 
readers please to study these verses ? 

What relates to the colt. Dr. Clarke and others, and 
among them Dr. Doddridge, have so enervated, by an un- 
warrantable interpretation, as to take from it what our Lord 
intended to display on this occasion. His omniscience and 
omnipotence. In fact the narrative is full of a series of 
miracles. 

Was it not miraculous, and a proof of omniscience, that 
our Lord could tell his two disciples exactly where they 
would find the colt tied? and the effect their statement 
would have on the owner, a proof of the same divine attri- 
bute, and of the omnipotence he intended to exercise at that 
time ? 

Was not His meek and humble though triumphant en- 
trance into Jerusalem, the capital of his kingdom, the church, 
and all his attendant circumstances, in regard to the colt, on 
which ^no man had sat, the conduct and acclamations of the 
m^ultitudes, the awe impressed on his enemies when he en- 
tered the temple and looked around about on all things, as 
a sovereign, miraculous ? And especially, on the next day, 
when he returned from Bethany, where he had lodged that 
night, was not the withering of the fig tree miraculous? 



28 DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Was not his entrance into the temple, and his conduct there, 
that of a sovereign, and did he not exercise omnipotence 
over the minds of men, by producing submissive awe, and 
restraining opposition, miraculous ? (vs. 8-17.) 

And "was not the instruction he imparted in reply to 
Peter's question about the withered fig tree, on the third 
morning, a display of his infinite wisdom ? (vs. 20-26.) 

Was there not a display of infinite wisdom in answering 
the question of the chief priests, and scribes, and elders, and 
in confounding them ? (vs. 27-33.) 



MARK XII. 



The same infinite wisdom is displayed in this chapter. 

First — In the parable he spake against the unfruitful and 
persecuting Jews, and of their doom. (vs. 1-9.) 

/Second — In regard to Christ's exaltation, (vs. 10, 11.) 

Third — The omnipotence of our Lord as displayed in con- 
trolling his raging enemies, (v. 12.) 

Fourth — His infinite wisdom is again seen in his reply to 
the Pharisees and Herodians. (vs. 14-17.) 

Fifth — Again in his reply to the Sadducees. (vs. 18-27.) 

Sixth — Once more in his answer to the question of one of 
the scribes, who asked him, " Which is the first command- 
ment of all?" (vs. 28-31.) And our Lord's commendation 
of him. (v. 34.) 

Seve7iih — Finally, in the confusion into which he threw 
all his enemies, and in his warning against the hypocrisy of 
the scribes, (vs. 38-40.) 

If any individual remains unconvinced by the accumu- 
lated evidence presented to prove the doctrine of a Trinity, 
and of the divinity of Christ our Eedeemer, I have one more 
proof to add on this great fundamental doctrine. It is 
found in the visions that were presented to John, who sur- 



PROOFS FROM THE APOCALYPSE. 29 

vived all his fellow apostles, in tlie year A. D. 95. His 
Apocalypse is the last book of canonical Scriptures. 

In the Apocalypse — 

First — Where the sacred writer invites, as I interpret the 
passage, the whole church, in their successive generations, 
to the end of time, to unite in singing the song that will be 
perpetuated in heaven hereafter, through endless ages : 
" Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in 
his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto 
God and his Father : to him be glory and dominion for ever 
and ever. Amen." (chap. i. vs. 5, 6.) 

Is not this a clear proof of the true divinity of Jesus 
Christ ? 

Second — How strong and irresistible the proof in chap, 
vii. 9-17, where the redeemed and elected saints are repre- 
sented, by the inspired penman, in heaven itself, as worship- 
ping God which sitteth upon the throne, and the Lamb : 

This vast " multitude, which no man could number, of 
all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood 
before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white 
robes, and palms in their hands ; and cried with a loud 
voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the 
throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood 
round about the throne, and about the elders and the four 
beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and wor- 
shipped God, saying. Amen : Blessing, and glory, and wis- 
dom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, 
be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of 
the elders answered, saying unto me. What are these which 
are arrayed in white robes ? and whence came they ? And 
I said unto him. Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, 
These are they which came out of great tribulation, and 
have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood 
of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, 
and serve him day and night in his temple : and he that 



30 DIVINITT OF JESUS CHRIST. 

sitteth. on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall 
hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall the 
sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is 
in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead, 
them unto living fountains of waters : and God shall wipe 
away all tears from their eyes." 

The angels felt no envy. They stood farther off. Yet 
" all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the 
elders and the four beasts, (emblematical representatives of 
the church and its ministers,) and fell before the throne on 
their faces, and worshipped Grod, saying. Amen," to the 
ascription of praise offered by the multitude of the redeemed, 
unto God and unto the Lamb ; and then united in singing 
the song, "Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanks- 
giving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God 
for ever and ever. Amen." (v. 12.) 

After this accumulation of evidence, what more can be 
said to open the eyes of Unitarians? We can only pity 
them, and pray that the divine Eedeemer, whose Godhead 
they persist in denying, as the Jews did before them, in op- 
position to the accumulated evidence of various kinds he 
presented to convince them, would, in boundless mercy, 
shed down his Holy Spirit, whose personality and divinity, 
so clearly taught in both parts of the Bible, to enlighten 
their darkened minds, renew their hearts, and subdue their 
stubborn wills, as he did in regard to persecuting Saul,, and 
change them into believing, loving, and zealous disciples. 

" I too was once in the cursed camp of Arius ; and there 
I should have lived, and died, and perished eternally, had 
not God convinced me that ! was a sinner ; and when I felt 
myself to be a sinner, I knew that my Saviour must be 
God." 

Thus exclaimed the celebrated Eev. William Eomaine, 
A. M., of England, whose works, in eight volumes, I have, 
elegantly printed in London, and prize for their scriptural 
and evangelical character. 



CJ a AFTER II. 



rACTS IK OUR H tSTORY ON WHICH MT HOPR RESTS.. 



They are the foUov Iring : 

I. The (first fact z>, ( )UR Redeemer, the founder and head of 
the Church, provided ( s refuge in America, to which his saints 
fled, in the seventeenirk century, from persecution in the Old 
World. 

Not m South A/merica. That was discovered in the 
close of the sixteenth JBentury, (1592,) by Christopher Columbus, 
a Roman Catholic, f jailing under a Roman Catholic flag. 



This part of the < 
curse -of the Papacy 

Under the frown 
a first-rate power in 

Her provinces in 
the same frowns, in 
gled in vain to frar 
been given up to di 

Providence has s 



lontinent was abandoned to the double 
and of avarice. 

©f the Almighty, Spain has fallen from 
. Europe, to a state almost contemptible.* 
South America, now independent, under 
iicted for the same causes, have strug- 
KB republican governments. They have 
istoacting revolutions. 
jE ordered things, as to deprive Columbus 
of the honor of gi' imhg his name to the Western Continent. 
It has been given t q .another man. It is called the Ameri- 
can Continent. ; S-hould we not recognize the hand of 
God in this fact ? , 

North America |. -was the place which Jesus Christ, our 
divine Redeemer, jijajepared as a refuge for his persecuted 
saints in Europe, tOM-^vhich they might flee, and where they 
have enjoyed civi^l and religious liberty,, and have wor- 
shipped God acco rfing to the dictates of their own con- 
sciences, and in ac joordance with the plan prescribed in, his 
Holy Word. 



• What has beco a« of the irwmcible aemada ? Gone to the winds. 



32 FACTS IN OUR OWN h:stort. 

Here came his people from Hollani, from the Netherlandsy 
from France, from Switzerland, fron Germany, from the- 
Palestinate, and from different parts of Great Britain. 



FRUITLESS ATTEMPT OF IKANCE. 



II. The second fact is, Oii?- deliverance from the grasping- 
power of France. 

Shortly after the establishment oi colonies, by Great 
Britain, in North America, France (etermined to wrest 
them from her. For the accomplishmeit of her iniquitous 
design, she, by means of her Jesuits, f»rmed an extensive 
combination of Indians, in various parts, to destroy the 
English settlements, and to murder the nhabitants. 

Had France succeeded, what would hsve been the result ? 
She was a Roman Catholic, persecuting power, completely 
under papal control. She would have lone all she could- 
to bring us under the dominion of his Iolestess. In that 
case, our liberty, both civil and religiou;, would have per- 
ished ; and North America would have b(en enslaved by the 
Eoman hierarchy, just as South America lad previously been 
by the power of Spain. 

But our Eedeeraer designed better thiigs for us. France- 
was disappointed and defeated. Great iritain triumphed. 
She retained all her provinces in this country. 

III. The third fact is, The revival of eeligion gra- 
ciously afforded hy our Divine Redeemer,, to his Church, in 
the middle oj the last century. 

During that period there had been a sad declension in 
religious truth and in evangelical religion, both in Great 
Britain and in this country. 

But God, our Redeemer, in infinite mercy, was pleased 
to raise up and commission chosen instruments, to oppose 
the tide of destructive error, and to revive scriptural truth 
in the provinces and in the mother country. 



REVIVAL OF RHLIGIOK. 33 

George "Whitfield, that wonderful preaclier, acted an 
important part in Great Britain and in our country. He 
found in both able associates. Before lie visited North 
America, he was, by the dealings of Providence with, him 
at home, prepared for his work. 

In May, 1738, he began his labors in Savannah, Georgia. 
There he conceived the idea of founding an orphan house 
for the benefit of destitute children. To execute his noble 
purpose, he returned to London, and was on Sunday, Jan. 
14, 1739, ordained by his friend Bishop Benson, a priest at 
Christ^s Church, Oxford. (See General Assemhli/s Missionary 
Magazine, vol. ii., p. 402. In the following pages may be 
found what induced W. to preach to the colliers at Kings- 
wood, and the wonderful success resulting from his preach- 
ing in the open fields, (pp. 403^05.) 

August 14th, 1739, he re-embarked for America, where 
he spent sixteen months ; during which time " he traveled 
over a great part of our country ; everywhere preaching to 
incredible multitudes, who flocked to hear him ; among 
whom were abundance of negroes. In all places the greater 
part of his hearers were affected to an amazing degree. 
Many were deeply convinced of their lost state — many truly 
converted to God." (pp. 401-406.) 

Of his travels, from Rhode Island through intermediate 
States to the Carolinas, he remarks, " It is now the seventy- 
fifth day since I arrived at Ehode Island. My body was 
then weak, but the Lord has renewed my strength. I have 
been enabled to preach, I think, one hundred and twenty- 
five times in public, besides exhorting frequently in private. 
I have travelled upwards of nine hundred miles, and gotten 
seven hundred pounds sterling in goods for the Georgia 
orphans. Nor did I perform my journeys with so little 
fatigue, or see such a continuance of the divine presence in 
the congregations to whom I preached. Praise the Lord, 
my soul." (p. 406.) 
3 



34 GEORGE "WniTFIELD. WM. TENNENT. 

From that page to the end is recorded an account of Ms 
successful labors in England and Scotland, &c., till his 
seventli and last visit (in 1762) to this country ; when he 
died in ISTewburyport, in a fit of the asthma, Sept. 30, 1770, 
not quite fifty-six years old. (p. 408.) 

In his second visit by Rhode Island, he found his way 
prepared in Connecticut by that truly great man, Jonathan 
Edwards, afterwards President of New Jersey College for a 
brief time — by the Eev. J. H, Livingston, D. D., S. T. P., in 
New- York ; for after his return from Holland, he was ena- 
bled to accomplish a. good and' a great work, by effecting a 
reconciliation between two violent parties, into which the 
Eeformed Dutch Church had been long divided.* 

In ISTew-Jersey his way was prepared by the labors of 
William Tennent, a minister eminently devout and very 
successful in preaching.f His convert and great admirer, 
Dr. Eodgers, had prepared his way in more places than one. 
(See memoirs by Dr. Miller.) But the Presbyterian Church 
in the city of New-York was greatly indebted to this won- 
derful preacher. In this statement there is no inconsistency, 
as could be shown by a comparison of dates. 

During this visit Mr. "W. labored so successfully in Penn- 
sylvania, and especially in Philadelphia. Standing at the 
foot of High Street, while addressing an audience of 4000 
or 5000 persons, his clear, sonorous, and mighty voice could 
be heard across the Delaware to the opposite shore. 

At this time, I believe, the edifice at the corner of Arch 
and Third streets was erected for the Second Presbyterian 
congregation. 

After preaching often in it, Mr. W. departed. The Eev. 
Gilbert Tennent, then laboring at New-Brunswick, N. J., 



* See Dr. Gnnn's Memoirs, chapters v. and vi. 

t See Assembly Miss. Mag., vol. ii. pp. 97, 147, and 201 . See his reproof to 
Whitfield, (pp. 201, 202.) 



REVIVAL OF RELIGION. 35 

was called, on his recommeadation, and became tlie first 
stated pastor. lie was succeeded by the Eev. Dr. Speoat, 
who was cut off by the yellow fever of 1793. Dr. Green, 
who had been his colleague for several years previous to his 
decease, became sole pastor. In 1799, the writer having 
received a unanimous call, left his father's house in IST. Y., 
and was ordained, as his colleague, by the Presbytery of 
Philadelphia, with four other young men, before the meet- 
ing of the General Assembly, in the month of May, 1799. 

The edifice becoming too small to accommodate applicants 
for pews, it was enlarged ; and as there was no other way 
for making the enlai'gement, it was resolved to take down 
the steeple, which G. T. had erected, to show that Presby- 
terians could have steeples as well as Episcopalians. 

Fifteen feet only were added, but by altering the Avhole 
internal arrangement, room suf&cient to accommodate sev- 
enty-five new families was provided, (in 1809.) They were 
soon added to the other families. Seats were thus furnished 
for an audience of fifteen hundred ; and such an audience 
was addressed every Sabbath morning, when the weather 
was fair, till 1828, when the writer, at the bidding of the 
General Assembly, went to the West, whence he soon after- 
wards returned. 

It is unnecessary to speak of Ihe two new edifices that 
were erected, after the unhappy division of this old congre- 
gation, for the accommodation of the two portions. May 
good, by a kind and overruling Providence, result from 
this apparent evil. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE REVOLUTION OF l7V6. 

III. This is the third fact in our history on which hopt 
for my country is founded. 

From the time when the saints of Christ began to flee 
from their bitter persecutions in the Old World, till the 
Declaration of American Independence, more than one hun- 
dred and fifty years had elapsed. 

In that period, by the exertions of the colonists, and the 
fostering care and protection of the mother country, they 
had grtatly increased in numbers, and had acquired consid- 
erable wealth. 

But Great Britain began to lose sight of the true relation 
subsisting between her and her colonies. 

Besides, the time for our becoming an independent nation 
was drawing nigh. Providence, therefore, gave her up to 
her own unwise counsels. She left the path both of wisdom 
and of justice. She began to pursue a plan not only to de- 
prive us of our rights, but to bring us completely under her 
control. 

Here I cannot go into particulars. They are found in 
history. Having lately read some portions of Bartlett's 
History, continued by Woodwobd, I recommend to the 
.notice of my readers the ffth chapter, and particularly the 
tarcasiic speech of Colonel I. Barre, in the House of Commons 
(vol. i. pp. 286, 287) ; what Franklin wrote, that very night 
■on which the bill passed, to his friend Charles Thompson : 
"The sun of liberty is set, &c." (p. 287) ; and also on the same 
,page, the impassioned language of young Patrick Henry. 



THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 3l 

The storj of tlie American Eevolution is more or less 
familiar to native Americans. Every Christian loves to see 
the hand of God in our history ; and when his recollection^ 
begins to fade away, he will find it profitable to have it' 
revived. 

Let him then peruse chap. i. book iii. of the history before 
us, p. 395, and he will see the hand of a kind Providence,, 
in bestowing upon us a commander-in-chief like WASHiNGr 
TON, who had been trained up and preserved for the destiny 
assigned him — in the admirable qualities of his mind — in 
the remarkable sagacity he displayed when he first arrived 
in JSTew York, in detecting the plots of the tories, so numer- 
ous in that city — in the judicious disposal he made of his 
undisciplined army, to meet on Long Island an army thor- 
oughly disciplined, and well provided with military stores 
and arms — and he will feel thankful when he reflects how 
skilfully, under a kind Providence, Washington saved his 
army from destruction, by transporting it across the river to 
New- York, silently, without being discovered by the enemy, 
so near at hand ; how he escaped /rom the city to the heights 
of Harlem, then to another place of safety, and finally across 
and beyond the Hudson to Pennsylvania. 

The Christian may then contemplate the wise plan Wash- 
ington was enabled to devise for reviving the mind of his 
country, dejected by the war, commenced in circumstances so 
unpromising. 

His determination to recross the Delaware, at several 
points, at night, to surprise the enemy, whom he rightly 
judged would, at Christmas, abandon himself to festivities, 
and feel perfectly secure, was wisely conceived. Had the 
crossing been effected, at all points of the river, as contem- 
plated, the enemy might have been cut off in a short time. 
But it was the will of Providence that we should not achieve 
our independence in so brief a time, with exertions so incon- 
siderable, and through sufferings so soon ended. In his 



38 GEORGE 'WASniXGTON. 

wisdom, God had determined the prize should be gained by 
far greater sacrifices ; and to train the nation for the enjoy- 
ment of independence by a longer and severer discipline. 
Eight years of war, bloodshed, and suffering were before 
our country. 

Nature interposed obstacles to frustate the counsels of 
Washington. History shows how much he achieved, as 
well as the great generalship he displayed, in saving him- 
self from the perils of the condition into which he had fallen, 
by the partial failure of his wisely projected plan of cutting 
off the enemy by surprise. 

No Christian can forbear to praise God for the watchful 
protection by which the life of Washington was guarded 
from the danger to which he was exposed, from the firing 
of the Americans as well as of the British, at the battle near 
Princeton. (See pp. 414, 415.) What old Dr. Scott, who 
was present at the battle, told me many years ago, I well 
remember. On that occasion, turning to his soldiers, the 
General calmly said, "Very well, boys; only take better 
aim." Had a prophet been there might he not have foretold, 
" That man will never fall by a bullet?" 

To point out all the interpositions of Providence in our 
favor during the Eevolutionary War, would extend my 
paper far beyond the prescribed limits. Leaving this to 
every Christian reader, I shall only add under this head — 

I have always regarded it as a favorable circumstance, 
that the Canadas and their dependencies retained their 
connexion with Great Britain. ' Had they united with the 
thirteen States, they would have brpught such an amount of 
the Eomish element, as would have paralyzed our exertions 
and endangered the Union. 



EFFECTS OF THE KE VOLUTION. 39' 



THE EVIL EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR ON THE INTERESTS 
OF RELIGION AND GOOD MORALS. 

All wars produce such evils ; but the war of the Eevolu- 
tion was, in a peculiar manner, injurious, from our connexion' 
with France, corrupted as she was by Romanism ; producing, 
at that period, its legitimate fruits — infidelity of the worst 
type, and even hlanh atheism; all of which his Holiness 
could endure, rather than true scriptural Protestantism ! 

JSTo wonder that so soon after the peace of 1788, that vol- 
cano, the French Eevolutiori, burst forth, in 1789- ; which, 
as it afterwards developed itself, in its tremendous horrors,, 
excited the alarm and terror of all Europe ! 

This Revolution comes, in point of time, so near to our 
own Eevolution, that the injurious influence of both on 
religion and morals, may very properly be viewed together. 

Here, providentially, I find myself greatly relieved from 
protracted research, by a history written by an excellent 
and impartial hand, which I shall endeavor to condense 
within a small compass, and refer my readers to the history 
itself. 

It is the HiSTOEY of the Eevolutions in Eukope, by 
Christopher "William Kook. 

When the news of the French Eevolution, in 1789, 
reached this country, I was about fifteen years of age, and 
had just entered the freshman class in Columbia College, 
ISTew-York, I Avas not old enough to take particular interest 
in the news, especially as I was intently devoted to my 
studies, and made it a rule never to go to recite in my class 
without being thoroughly prepared. But older persons 
were carried away with the news, and anticipated the cona- 
ing of wonderful events. 

A fact that occurred in May, 1794, when my class grad- 
uated at New- York, will prove conclusively that at that time 



40 THE FRENCH KEVOLtTTION. 

the delusion of tlie French. Eevolution was not dissipated 
from the public mind, bj correct information of its true 
nature. 

The writer claims the privilege of noticing a previous fact, 
showing the state of his own mind in regard to that great 
event. The French Eevolution being a matter of general 
conversation, he could not avoid hearing much of it. It is, 
however, a matter of gratification to him, at this distant day, 
to know that he was not carried away with the general delu- 
sion. He had begun to reflect — the mist of delusion was 
passing from his eyes. As a proof of this he appeals to the 
speech he delivered at the commencement. It was the. 
English Salutatory.* Subject: Hbs. iv&ii 'Rigb.ts of Equality. 
It is still in his possession. 

Some time after he had delivered it, he left the stage, to 
breathe fresh air. On returning, he was met by the Rev. Dr. 
Beach, an Episcopal minister, who, kindly taking his hand, 
complimented him on his speech. His eyes, however, were 
not yet freed from the mist of delusion. He had not enjoyed 
the advantages of his classmate. Gyrus King. 

EuFUS King, his brother, had disclosed the secret and detest- 
able springs of the French Eevolution, which he had discov- 
ered while living in France, as our ambassador. The eyes of 
Cyrus were thus fully open. He had the courage, in his vale- 
dictory oration, to speak in ridicule and with contempt of the 
French Revolution. What happened he doubtless anticipated. 

He was hissed by an audience deluded through want of 
correct information. He stood still till they ceased their 
hissing. Then he proceeded and finished his valedictory 
oration. 

Having recited the above facts, I feel at liberty to content 
myself with only a few remarks on the chapter of Kock's 
history before mentioned. 

* Not having the Catalogue, I hesitate iu naming the character of the speech. 



EOBESPIERRE. 41 

My ^rsi{ remark is, tliat the chapter, so full of most sur- 
prising and instructive events, contains a period of only 
twenty-five years. (Kock, p. 418.) 

The second is, that K. justly traces these events to the 
financial difficulties, brought on France by the ambition and 
delusion of that wicked and cruel tyrant, Louis XIV. 
(p. 420) ; who, after having ratified all the edicts of Henry 
III. and IV. in favor of the Protestants of France, as an 
expression of gratitude for what they had done to secure to 
him his crown and kingdom — under the urgent influence of 
his Eoman Catholic ministers, and the pressing importu- 
nities and splendid promises of an ignorant pope, Innocent 
XI. — was persuaded to revoke the edict of Nantz, and mur- 
der his innocent and best subjects, in expectation of atoning 
for previous crimes, by committing real and greater crimes. 

Thus, according to the detestable teaching of a wicked 
and deluded Pope, he was to merit a heavenly reward. (See 
"Antidote,"pp. 270, 271.) 

My third remark is, that one set of conspirators destroyed 
those who preceded them, till the infamous and blood-thirsty 
EoBESPiEERE gained the ascendant and introduced the 

REIGN OF TERROB. 

Here, by a few quotations, I shall trace the progress of 
this man : 

" The Convention was now nothing more than an assem- 
bly of executioners and a den of brigands. To hoodwink 
and deceive the people, they submitted for their approbation 
the plan of a constitution, drawn up by H. de S. (June 24) ; 
according to which the primary assemblies were to exercise 
the sovereignty, and deliberate on all legislative measures. 
After the 2nd of June the whole power was in the hands of 
the Committee of Public Safety, which was formed in the 
Convention. Danton, the chief of the Cordeliers, a popular 
assembly, more extravagant than the Jacobins themselves, 
had the most influence for a time ; but he was soon sup- 
planted by Eobespierrey (See what follows, p. 430.) 



42 THE REVOLUTIONS OP FRANCE. 

"Under this title they organized a government tlie most 
tyrannical and the most sanguinary which history ever 
recorded. Robespierre was at the head of it. All France' 
swarmed with revolutionary committees, &c." " Over all 
the provinces of the kingdom the blood of the innocent 
flowed in torrents," (See pp. 430, 431.) 

" The revolutionists did not stop here. To their political 
crimes they added acts of impiety. In a short time, Herbert 
and Chaumette, two chiefs of the commune, got the Conven- 
tion to decree the abolition of the Christian religion. (Nov. 
10.) The worship of Reason was substituted in its place ; 
and the chu.rch of Notre Dame, at Paris, was profaned, by 
being converted into a temple of atheism, &c." (p. 431.) 

" The deputy Caraier de ISTantes covered the whole coun- 
try with slaughter, and exerted his ingenuity to invent new 
methods of massacre." (p. 431, at the bottom.) 

At the close of p. 438, we have an account of the decline 
of Robespierre's power — followed on the next with his vain 
attempts to sustain himself; and after discovering their 
futility, then yielding, and at last, failing to cornmit suicide, 
" he was executed with twenty-one of his accomplices (July 
28, 1794)." 

I now refer my readers to the whole of this chapter x.,. 
embracing about fifty-eight pages. 

But I cannot leave the subject without adding this remark, 
that if the conscience of the French nation had not been 
outraged and stupefied by the Popes— first depriving the 
people of the Holy Scriptures, and then compelling them, 
bv the severest penalties, to believe dogm^as in utter opposi- 
tion to God's inspired word — ^it would have been impossible 
for such ATonderful changes in the state of society to take 
place, within so small a compass of time as twenty-five 
ygars — from the despotism of a monarch to the tyranny of 
parties, destroying one another successively ; and then bow- 
ing the neck to the despotism of a single man, who put the 



NAPOLEON. DECLINE OF RELIGION. 43 

members of his family on the thrones of ancient kings ; 
while the nations were flattered with the appearance of being 
independent ; although their sovereigns were subject to the 
absolute control of Napoleon, who was aiming at the estab- 
lishment of a universal empire. (See what KocK says in the 
two first paragraphs, p. 418.) 

I close the chapter, by recording a sagacious remark made 
by the Rev. J. H. Livingston^ D. D., S. T. P., then living in 
New-Brunswick : " If I," said that venerable man, who had 
profoundly studied sacred prophecy in relation to N.'s inva- 
sion of Russia, " If I understand prophecy, Bonaparte has 
no commission there, to Russia. And what says history ? 
The invasion of Russia cost Napoleon the loss of his empire, 
the loss of his liberty, and finally, the^oss of his life, in 
St. Helena." 



THE CONSEQUENCES OP THE DECLINE OF KELIGION AND MORALS. 

Great Britain became involved in a war that greatly aug- 
mented her debt, already great, as well as the sacrifice of 
many lives, till its termination, in 1815. 

Our own country was punished for her decline in religion 
--first by the scourge of the yellow fever, inflicted on Phil- 
adelphia, in 1793 ; then the capital of the U. S. N. A., which 
swept away many lives ; and again in 1798, when this epi- 
demic raged, not only in Philadelphia, but with more des- 
tructive violence in the city of New-York. 

Second — God began to scourge us with the war of 1812, in 
which we were disgraced by the capture of "Washington, our 
capital, and the destruction of its public buildings. Mercy 
was, however, mingled with wrath. Our navy triumphed 
on Lake Erie. Our war ships obtained splendid victories 
on the Atlantic Ocean. Great Britain was utterly disap. 
pointed in her confident designs on New-Orleans. 



44 REVIVAL OF RELIGION, &C. 



REVIVAL OF RELIGION AND MORALS. 

Ages ago this cheering promise was recorded (Isaiah lix. 
19) : " When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit 
of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him." 

Alarmed at the prevalence of infidelity and licentiousness, 
Christians were aroused from their drowsiness. 

Bishop Watso7i, Dr. Bouge, Dr. Campbell, and many others 
in Great Britain, put on the armor, and went forth to meet 
the enemy, and stripped him of his boasted weapons. 



MIS0ONART AND BIBLE SOCIETIES. 

The Moravians or United Brethren had, as early as 1732, 
commenced missions to the Danish West India Islands ; and 
in 1733 commenced their settlement in Greenland ; and 
in 1734 their first settlement in North America, &c. (See 
Gen. AssemUy^s Miss. Magazine, vol. i. pp. 12, 13.) 

The London Missionary Society, formed by persons 
of various evangelical denominations, may be considered as 
" an important era in the history of modern missions," was 
instituted ia 179-i. 

The Baptist Missionary Society was instituted in London, 
in 1792. (p. 14.) 

The General Assembly was, as soon as constituted, a Mis- 
sionary Society ; and as early as 1740 and 1765, Presby- 
terians were, by aid from Scotland, enabled to send four 
missionaries to the Indians, (p. 57.) 

See what is printed (pp. 105-106) of the New-York Mis- 
sionary Society, instituted in 1796 ; of the Connecticut 
Society, in 1798 (p. 162) ; of the Massachusetts Society, in 
1799 (p. 209) ; of the Hampshire Missionary Society, State 
of Massachusetts, in 1802. (p. 313.) 



BIBLE SOCIETIES. 4& 

In 1812 the A. B. C. for F. M. sent a communication to 
tlie G. A., the answer to which may be found on p. 515 of 
the Printed Minutes. 

The British and Foreign Bible Society was instituted 
in 1804, at London. It commenced its operation with the 
sublime purpose of producing a general movement of the 
church of Grod on the earth. 

And has not this design been put in a train of successful 
operation ? 

In 1808, the first Bible Society in this country was formed 
in Philadelphia ; and after one hundred and fifty similar 
societies had been established, in different cities and towns, 
the American Bible Society was established in the city of 
New-York.* ■ 

What numbers, in the meantime, were established in 
England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, as well as in differ- 
ent parts of Europe and in Asia ! The smiles and blessing 
of God have rested on these institutions. How many mil- 
lions of copies of the Holy Scriptures have been distributed 
over the face of our benighted and sinful world, to facilitate 
its illumination and regeneration in coming time ! 

The exertions of the General Assembly of the Presby- 
terian Church are to be found spread over their Printed 
Minutes. 

At their first meeting, in 1789, they addressed a letter to 
General Washington, President of the U. S. K A., which 
contains this ever to be remembered maxim : " Public virtue 
is the most certain means of public felicity ; and religion is 
the surest basis of virtue." 

Then follows the opinion they had formed of the Presi- 
dent's attachment to and practice of the Christian religion ; 

♦ At the anniversary of the Penn. Bible Society, which sprang from tho 
P. B. S. the writer, in 1841, gave a history of its rise, &g., and altcrwards, at the 
request of tho Secretary, reduced it to writiug. 



46 PASTORAL LETTER. 

and an expression of gratitude in being favored with sucli a 
chief magistrate. 

In tlie Minutes of tlie next year, the answer of the Presi- 
dent, which reflects honor on him, is published. He fully 
concurs with the General Assembly in their views of Chris- 
tianity, expresses his gratitude for their favorable opinion 
of his services to his country, acknowledges his dependence 
on Providence -for the success of his administration, and 
requests their prayers to God on his behalf 

Washington was indeed a blessing to our country, both 
in war and in peace. 

The Printed Minutes for 1798 contains a pastoral letter, 
prepared by a committee appointed for the purpose, which, 
after being amended, was adopted, May 25th. 

The letter is faithful. It reminds the churches of the 
solemn aspect of divine Providence — of "' the convulsions in 
Europe, threatening destruction to morals and religion " — 
of " the scenes of devastation and bloodshed, unexampled in 
the history of modern nations ;" and that " our own country 
is threatened with similar calamities." 

" We are filled with awful dread"— "a solemn crisis has 
arrived in which we are called to the most serious contem- 
plation of the moral causes which have produced it, and the 
measures which it becomes us to pursue." 

In regard to the moral causes, it is said, "A little reflec- 
tion may convince us that they may be traced to a general 
defection from God, and corruption of the public principles 
and morals. These usually keep an equal pace, and they 
uniformly precede the ruin of nations." 

The whole letter is worth a serious reading. It will con- 
vince any sincere Christian that the recommendation of a 
day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, was wise and judi- 
cious on the part of the Gen. Assembly. (See pp. 162-154:.) 

Born, baptized, and educated in the Reformed Protestant 



REV. DR. LIVINGSTON. 47 

Duteli Church, when, in 1794, I made a profession of reli- 
gion, as a matter of course I became a communicant in that 
church. It was my happy privilege to sit under the min- 
istry of evangelical men, who served that church. 

It affords me pleasure to be able to assert, as the truth, 
that after the Eevolutionary War, religion was, in the city 
of New-York, in a more flourishing state than it was, as 
already seen, in Philadelphia. 

The Eev. Dr. Livingston returned to the city as soon 
after peace was declared as he could ; and while serving the 
church alone, began his instructions, as Professor, to as 
many students as he could collect ; and by preaching dili- 
gently and faithfully to his former flock, he was greatly 
blessed of Grod, and cheered by the accompanying influence 
of the Holy Spirit ; so that he was strengthened, both in his 
inner and outward man. 

His Memoirs say (pp. 287, 288) : 

" For near three years, he had now been sole pastor of a large 
ami respectable congregation which, before the war, was seived by 
four ministers ; and during the greater part of this time, or ever 
since his appointment as professor, he had lectured five days every 
week to a class of theological students. 

" Few constitutions are so robust that they would not feel the 
effect of continued and faithful employment, for such a space, in 
any profession ; and the Doctor would probably have sooner sought 
this partial and temporary retirement from his charge to recruit his 
strength, had he not viewed it as his duty to spend and he sjoent, 
while a most signal blessing from above attended his labours. In 
the lapse of the period which has been mentioned, he received, 
upon a confession of their faith, more than four hundred persons 
into the communion of the Church : the period was, in fact, one 
joyful revival season, and his own soul participated the celestial 
influence which descended so copiously, and accompanied his min- 
istrations. The large accessions made to the Church, from time to 
time, comforted and encouraged him — and his work, with these 



48 DR. LIVINGSTON. 

convincing tokens of the presence of the Divine Spirit in the midst 
of the people, before his eyes, if debilitating to his body, was never- 
theless a delightful one. There are some yet living, perhaps, who 
then belonged to the congregation, and can remember the precious 
"harvest, and with what cheerfulness, assiduity, and zeal, he toiled 
io gather it." 



CORRECTIONS OF SERIOUS ERRORS. 



As the year before named, when I made a profession of 
religion, was subsequent to the extraordinary labors of 
Dr. L., I wish to make a slight alteration and addition, by 
recording that, that devoted man, after three years extra 
service, was constrained to seek a season of relaxation ; and 
in 1794 he obtained relief by the return of Rev. Dr. Kuypers 
to the South Church, and the calling of Eev. Drs. Linn and 
Abeel as his- colleagues. From that time the evening ser- 
vices were held, uniformly, in that large edifice, the Middle 
Church; when the audience was very large, for it was filled 
to its utmost capacity. Having compared my recollections 
with those of Abraham Yan Nest, Sen., Esq., I am sure that 
benches were placed in the three long aisles, running the 
whole length of that extensive building, to multiply seats 
for the crowd of people who were attracted to that church. 

This is another evidence that religion was in a better state 
in the city of New- York tharu in Philadelphia, after the 
close of the revolutionary war. 

For the correction of serious errors we add the following 
particulars : 

1. For correction of the error of those who feel disposed 
to impress the public mind with the belief that all revivals 
of religion have derived their origin in New-England, I 
refer them to the Printed Minutes and Extracts of the Gen 
eral Assembly. 

Had they lived and labored as long in Philadelphia as I 
had, from 1799 to 1828, (twenty-nine and a half years) it 
would have been impossible for them to have entertained 
snch a gross mistake. 
4 



50 ERRORS CORRECTED, 

Ilad thej been attendants of the General Assembly, in 
various ways, from 1802 to 1816, — observed their proceed- 
ings-*-listened io the inquiries made of ministers and elders 
coming from Kentucky and Erie; — had they attended the 
prayer meetings of the Assembly — heard read, and after- 
wards read again the narratives prepared by committees 
appointed for the purpose ; they would have known what 
the writer knew, that the great revival of religion, which 
he felt authorized him, after such close attention to facts, to 
denominate, in a discourse delivered in 1816, a National 
Eevival of Eeligion, originated in Kentucky in 1802, and 
spread its holy influence through New-England itself, more 
or less. 

2. To correct the false impression made on the court in 
Philadelphia, over which Judge Eodgers presided, by 
Josiah Randal, Esq., the advocate of the New School, by 
the erroneous show of the large sums raised for missionary 
purposes, published in the Appendix; if that advocate had 
looked at what the asterisks pointed below, and made his 
calculations, as I did, carefully, he woukl have found that 
what had been paid mto the Assembly's fund, by the eleven 
presbyteries of the three exscinded Synods in eleven years, 
amounted to the enormous sum of one hundred and thirty- 
four dollars and a few cents; although the Assembly had 
been expending thousands of dollars, annuallj^, on those 
regions. 

'6. The following letter, dated May 8, 1 839, was received 
from John K. Kane, Esq., (now Judge Kane.) 

Mv Dear Sir, 

The Supreme Court has just pronounced its judgment 
— for us, on every point. 1. That the plan of Union was a Mission- 
ary arrangement, constituted by legislative act, as such repealable, 
temporary on its very face, and vesting no rights which its rejical 
did not abrogate. 2. That the Moderator did right in refusing to 
receive the debated motions, or to allow an appeal to be taken. 



^ 



LETTER FROM J. K. KANE. 51 

3. That even if lie had been wrong, the Assembly, till after its or- 
ganization by choosing a new Moderator, had no power to review 
his acts. 4. That Mr. Cleaveland's motion was not intended to 
redress a wrong inflicted by the Moderator, bnt to make a separate 
organization. of a minority; and that if it Iiad any other object 
than sucli separate organization, it was " deceptive.'''' 5. That Mr. 
C.'s motion was irregular, and not requiring the notice of ilte body; 
and that the silence of the members implied no acquiescence. 
6. That the Commissioners from the exscinded Synods were not 
dejure or de facto members of the Assembly, 7. That the Old 
School organization was in aU respects regular. 8. That the New 
School Assembly had no character as a General Assembly of the 
Presbyterian Church, and that its acts conferred no rights on tho 
relators, and derogated in no wise from the rights of the defendants. 
Wherefore, a- new trial was oidered. The Judgment was pro. 
nounced by the Chief-Justice : after it had been read. Judge Eogers 
read a short note declaring that his opinions expressed on the trial 
remained in all particulars unchanged. 

I wnte in great haste, and with only such a recollection of the 
opinion as I draw from hearing it once read ; but I am not sub- 
stantially wrong. I congratulate you on this result as the final 
triumph of truth. 

Veiy respectfully and truly yours, 

J. K. KANE, 
Rev. J. J. Janeway, D.D. Philadelphia, May 8, 1839. 

The same day,<a6:-i='wa» going to attend the Executive 
Committee of the F. B. of Missions, as I was stepping into 
the steana-boat, I met Chief- Justice Hornblower coming out. 
Taking each other by the hand, I said, " Chief-Justice, the 
court has decided the question in favor of the Old School." 
He responded, " That is good law." 



ADDITIONAL PROOFS OF THE ORIGIN OF REVIVALS. 

In the General Assembly for 1804, the writer was a 
member, (See Min., p. 285,) and the Eev. Thomas E. 



62 ORIGIN OF REVIVALS. 

Hughes, from the Pres. of Erie, "West of the Ohio. (p. 286.) 
Of course I heard him detail the accounts of the precious 
revivals of religion that had occurred in those distant 
regions. 

To exhibit the change produced in the feelings of the 
Assembly, so difi'erent from what they were, when in 1798 
they published their pastoral letter, and recommended the 
observance of a day of humiliation, &c., a few extracts will 
be presented from them : 

1. An answer to the letter of the Eev. David Eice : . 

"Z>e(tr Sir — Your letter of the ISth. of April has been regularly- 
laid before the General Assembly, and although it ought to have 
been accompanied with an extract from the minutes of the Presby- 
tery of Transylvania, yet the Assembly having perfect confidence 
in you, easily waived that formality. 

" The inquiry which you propose, in the name of the Presbytery 
concerning the propriety, in your present circumstances, of licensing 
and ordaining men to the work of the gospel ministry, without a 
liberal education, is certainly of great magnitude. Considering the 
great and ardent zeal on the subject of religion which has been 
awakened throughout so large a portion of the United States, the 
multitudes who are earnestly demanding of you the bread of life, 
and the few, comparatively, who are regularly ordained to break it 
among them ; the reasoning seems specious at first, which would 
encourage us, in the instances you mention, to depart from the 
spirit of four standards on this subject ; and some plausible facts 
frequently occur which appear to confirm this reasoning, and mis- 
lead the judgments of many honest and well meaning men. On 
all subjects on which the human mind is roused to uncommon 
exertions, and inflamed with uncommon ardour, men become elo- 
quent for a season, and even the most weak and ignorant often 
surprise us by the fluency and pertinency, as well as fervour of 
their expressions. And in general revivals of the spirit of religion, 
that copiousness and pathos in prayer and exhortation, which are 
not uncommonly to be found among men who are destitute of any 
liberal culture of mind, and often even of any considerable natural 



EXTRACTS FROM MINUTES. 53 

talents, may tempt themselves, and lead others to conclude, that 
they are endued with peculiar and extraordinary gifts for the ser- 
vice of the Church, which ought not to be suflered to lie useless 
and unemi^loyed." (p. 299, 300.) 

2. Extracts from the report of the Comraittee to draw up 
a summary of the informatiou received during the free con- 
versation on the general state of religion : 

" And although through the subtlety of the adversary of souls, 
and the influence of human frailty, some errors, extravagances, and 
instances of reproachful behaviour have taken place, which the 
Assembly do sincerely regret, and most unequivocally disapprove 
and condemn ; yet are they happy to learn, and it is a sacred duty 
which they owe to the churches, to announce, that notwithstanding 
the malignity with which the enemies of religion have studied to 
misrepresent, and rejoiced to exaggerate these undesirable events, 
they are chiefly confined to one district of no great extent ; and 
they are certainly very rare, considering the immense region 
through which this work has prevailed, and the vast variety of 
characters who have been its subjects. 

" The Assembly, moreover, have the unspeakable satisfaction to 
announce, that the extraordinary influences of the Divine Spirit 
have, since the last year, been spread over very new and extensive 
countries still farther to the south and west. To the north-west and 
north, from the Ohio river to the lakes, a vast region which a few 
years ago was an uninhabited wilderness, new churches are forming 
with astonishing rapidity, and the Spirit of God seems to be 
remarkably poured out, and to accompany the word and ordinances 
of the gospel with the most solemn and affecting impressions." 
(p. 308.) 

(See a letter addressed to Eev. "W. S. Plummer, Presby- 
terian of Jan. 10, 1857, A Eevival in Old Times, p. 1.) 

" The Assembly have likewise heard with uncommon satisfaction, 
of the increasing number of societies for the purposes of prayer, 
and for the promotion of piety and good morals. It is the ordinary 
course of divine providence, that when God designs to pour out hia 



54 EXTRACTS FROM MINUTES. 

Spirit in a remarkable manner on his oluirclus, and to increase and 
'extend the influence of true religion, lie iirst awakens among his 
•own peo])le a spirit of prayer, and of fervent supplication at the 
throne of grace for this blessing. And the Assembly do earnestly 
recommend it to all who love the appearing of the great God, even 
•our Saviour Jesus Christ, to meet often together ; to stir one another 
;iip to love and good works, and to wrestle in prayer with God, like 
the saints of old, for the prosperity of Zion, till the righteousness 
thereof go foith as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp 
.that burneth. 

"It is, .moreover, no small ground of consolation to observe the 
pious disposition manifested, and the increasiiig efforts whicli are 
made, more effectually to extend the knowledge of the way of 
-salvation to the unhappy and enslaved blacks iu our country, and 
to send the inestimable blessings of the gospel, along with the 
improvemei^ts of civilization, to the heathen and savage tribes in 
our vicinity ; to save these wretched people from utter extermina- 
tion, and to raise up from the remnants of so many destructive wars 
the seeds of future and great nations, Avho shall enlarge the kingdom 
of the Redeemer. The reports of the Assembly's missionaries in 
the Cherokee and Catawba nations, have rendered the prospects of 
introducing among them letters and civilization, the arts of peace, 
and the precious lights of the gospel, more promising than at any 
period they have ever been. 

" Finally, the Assembly rejoicing themselves in the grace of the 
great Head of the Church, have again the happiness to offer to the 
churches under their care, increasing cause of thanksgiving and 
praise to the God of all mercy and truth. And they intreat the 
co-operation of their prayers and their charity, for the promotion 
of the Redeemer's glory, and the salvation of precious and immortal 
souls. And now to God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 
who hath given us this reason to rejoice, be glory and honour, 
world without end ! Amen." 

The truth is this : The revival of religion in this conntry 
began in the South, at Savannah, Georgia, by the united 
.labors of Wesley and Whitfield. 



REVIVAL OF RELIGION. 55 

From the South, W. passed through the Carolina?, Vir- 
ginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New-Jersey, and New- York ; 
and in all these States found that his way had been prepared 
for him by ministers who had adopted the Calvinistic creed ; 
and especially by -Jonathan Edwards, who had labored 
nearly twenty-four years in his father's congregation in 
Connecticut ; and after so long a time spending the strength 
of his truly great mind, and becoming so greatly interested 
in their welfare, was, through the imperfection of the church 
government adopted by Congregationalists, compelled to 
leave them, go, and live and labor among the Indians at 
Stockbridge, Massachusetts ; where, in his retirement, he 
wrote some of his incomparable works, a short time before 
his election by the trustees of New Jersey College to be 
their President. He died as such " in March, 1758, in the 
fifty-fifth year of his age." (Assembly Magazine, Vol. i. pp. 
116-119.) 



CONCLUSION. 



Nearly the whole of this part, as ■well as the nest, had 
heen written, and might have been put to the press as early 
as the month of August last, had I not been suddenly taken 
unwell. I was confined to the house a day or two. A 
diarrhea ensued ; so that I could not go to the seashore as I 
designed, and was constrained to remain at home, as the 
best place till the Autumn. 

Had my papers gone to the printer, they might have 
passed thr'ough the press, although I remained at home, 
before the Presidential election, ia ISTovember last. 

But reflecting on the subject, I concluded to defer the 
publication till that event was gone by. Believing the final 
overthrow of the Papacy not many years distant, as I shall 
show under the heading, " The Days of Popeey ake Num- 
bered," I concluded to leave all matters in the hands of my 
divine Eedeemer ; being persuaded that as the extinction of 
the Papacy is so near in point of time, He would take care 
of the Protestant Church, and not permit a Eoman Catholic, 
either an avowed or concealed one, to ascend the Presidential 
chair. 

In fact, feeling objections to all the candidates, I declined 
voting altogether. Had I known what I heard after the 
election was over, I might have voted for Mr. Buchanan. 

Do any feel disposed to inquire why I feel so confident of 
the safety of the Protestant Church ? I refer them to Prov. 
xxi. 1. There it is written, " The king's heart is in the 
hand of the Lord (original Jehovah): as the rivers of 
water, he turneth it whithersoever he will." 



Christ's power universal. 67 

It is tlie divine Eedeemer of -whom the inspired writer 
speaks. We have already shown that Jesus Christ claimed, 
from the beginning to the end of his ministry on the earth, 
to be invested with all power in heaven and on the earth ; 
and while living in this world, in a state of humiliation, 
he exercised this power by working stupendous miracles in 
his own name ; he asserted, " That the Son of man is Lord 
also of the sabbath ;" he claimed authority to forgive sin, 
and to prove it in the presence of his enemies, who accused 
Mm in their thoughts as a blasphemer ; he commanded the 
man, sick of the palsy, whose sins he had forgiven, to arise, 
to take up his couch, and go to his house. Instantly he 
arose and walked with his bed before all, and went to his 
home. (See Luke v. 18-25 ; Matt. ix. 2-7.) 

Thus our divine Eedeemer acted in his state of humilia- 
tion. Much more can he exercise universal power, now 
that he has gone into heaven, and sits at the right hand of 
God. 

This power he displayed in fulfilment of his promise, 
(Acts i. 5-8,) by shedding down on the apostles and others 
the Holy Grhost. (Acts ii. 1-14. Kead the whole chapter.) 

How thankful we ought to be that our Eedeemer has 
begun to exercise this power, in favor of his church, in our 
country, in various revivals, in different places, and particu- 
larly in Virginia, as may be seen from the following intelli- 
gence, cut out of the Journal of Commerce, a republication of 
what appeared first in the New- York Observer: 

" Our Washington Correspondent under date of July 19, 1856, 
writes as follows : 

"A blessed revival has been enjoyed in the Episcopal High 
School near Alexandria, like that of which we heard in the Vir- 
ginia Military Institute at Lexington, of which Col. Smith is the 
pious Superintendent. There a youth suddenly died, and that 
death was as life to the young cadets. Many were awakened and 
found peace with God. 



58 REVIVAL OF RELIGION IN VIRGINIA. 

Here an interesting daughter of tlie Principal of the SjIiooI was 
removed by death. A deep solemnity overspread all minds, the 
question was asked by many of the youth, Am I prepared to die ? 
What must I do to he saved? Their young minds were directed 
to the Lamb of God, they believed, and rejoiced. Nearly thirty of 
these youth in the blooming, forming period of life, have expressed 
liope in the Redeemer. Bishop Johns has lent his faith and exer- 
tions to promote the good work, for indeed the Virginia Bishops 
are practical preachers of the gospel, making in an easy and natural 
way the most solemn appeals to the hearts and consciences of their 
hearers. 

" A good missionary spirit exists int he Episcopal Theo. Seminary, 
near Alexandria. God has blessed the missionary efforts of those 
who have gone thence to Cape Palmas, Africa, the word having 
Lad free course." 

Here tlie divine Redeemer has presented a specimen of 
what he can do and will do in his appointed time. 

lie has all hearts in his hands so entirely, that if he 
pleased he could convert every man and v^oraan, not only 
in Virginia, but in all the Southern States, in one year. 
But this is not his pleasure. Nor is this statement gratify- 
ing to unconverted persons. 

I have recorded what a strange prayer the celebrated 
Augustine once offered : " Convert me, Lord ; but not yet." 
Alas ! how often such a pra3'-er has been breathed out by 
awakened and convicted sinners ! The depraved heart of 
man is full of contradictions. 



THK PROBLEM OF SLAVERV TO BE SOLVED BT OUR DIVINE 

REDEEMER. 

It is well known that Slavery was forced upon her colonies 
by Great Britain, contrary to their wishes. 

In 1818, when the writer had the honor of being Mod- 
erator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, 



SLAVERY. S9 

tlie question of Slavery was taken np, and decided wisely, 
and to the entire satisfaction of the southern commissioners. 

This was done nineteen years before the disruption of the 
Presbyterian Church, in 1837. 

Two prominent citizens of Virginia were at my house in 
1832, They detailed to me what was uttered in common 
conversation on the subject of Slavery, and what was openly 
avowed in the Legislature ; from which I inferred that Vir- 
ginia was abo^it declaring herself a free State. Had that 
occurred her example would have been followed by Mary- 
land and Kentucky. 

This would have been too rapid. The wisdom of our 
divine Eedeemer prevented it. In the exercise of his un- 
searchable wisdom, he had, in ancient times, suffered the 
Israelites to be enslaved by an Egyptian king, who had 
forgotten the beneficent acts done by Josey)h, the Hebrew 
slave, to Egypt, in saving her from the terrible ravages of a 
long and approaching famine by his inspired wisdom. 

In like manner the happy influence of the wise decision 
of the General Assembly, in regard to Slavery, after it had 
remained the doctrine of the whole Presbyterian Church for 
nineteen years, was forgotten by the New School, on the 
disruption of the church in 1837. Then the New School 
became Abolitionists. 

But let it be remembered, that they liad previously 
departed from the trae faith of the Presbyterian Church, 
taught both in their standards of doctrine, and in God's 
inspired word ; and had attempted, without success, to revo- 
lutionize the church. 

From Dr. Ross, of the South, who had gone with them, 
in their recent General Assembly, held in May last, at 
New- York, they received a severe rebuke. He told them 
plainly, that the agitation of Slavery was of service to the 
South, by leading them to study the Scriptures carefully ; 
and they, he affirmed, were better understood in the South 



60 SLAVERY TO BE ABOLISHED BY OHKIST. 

than in the North. He was ready to meet any one in argu- 
ment. He told them' plainly where they were going. 

As I have already said, our divine Eedeemer will, by his 
infinite wisdom and almighty power, solve the problem of 
Slavery, in his own way, to the entire satisfaction and admi- 
ration of all real Christians, 

Paul has written of Israel, " I bear them record, that they 
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge." (Eom, 
X. 2.) So when Jesus Christ shall be pleased to give freedom 
to African slaves, every real Christian, who has espoused 
the cause of abolition, will, wil;h shame, confess, " I had a 
zeal for the freedom of the slaves, but it was not according 
to knowledge." 

No real believer in the divinity of our Eedeemer can 
doubt either his ability or his willingness to give freedom to 
enslaved Africans in his own set time. 

I look forward to the time, not far distant, when all the 
Southern States will emancipate their slaves, and prepare 
them, by inculcating the truths of the Gospel on their 
hearts, and by teaching them the principles of civil govern- 
ment, to go to Africa. 

And even those who may need cotored people to cultivate 
lands, where white men cannot labor, will be inclined to 
set their slaves free, and pay them suitable wages ; and 
when they shall be duly prepared, and desire to go to their 
father land, they will let them go ; or if they prefer to 
remain, they will suffer them to remain, and allow them 
here to enjoy the rights of citizens. 

How easily can Jesus Christ pour out his Holy Spirit on 
us, and dispose the whole American people to engage in 
this work for enlightening and converting the whole of 
Africa ! 

Will the South be called on to make all the sacrifices ? 
By no means. It will be a national work. An appeal may 
be made to the North to share with the South in bearing 



THE DESTINY OF THE IT. S, 61 

the burden. Many a wealthj man in the JSTorth will cheer- 
fully respond to the appeal. 

And, without a change in the Constitution, will not Con- 
gress deem it right to set apart large portions of our 
unoccupied territory, for the purpose of remunerating any 
losses to be incurred by the South ? "Will this injure the 
North? By no means. They will joyfully rush to the 
South and West, to occupy* lands demanding less labor in 
cultivation, and far more productive in remunerating human 
labor. 

Grod has, I think, a glorious destiny for the American 
people. They are to be used, I believe, as a powerful instru- 
ment in the hand of the Eedeemer, for spreading the Gospel 
through the whole world. Look at our geographical posi- 
tion, between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, and see 
what a glorious work lies before our nation, when God, our 
Eedeemer, shall have prepared ns for it. May the day 
come speedily ! 

" Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion : for the 
time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy 
servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust 
thereof So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, 
and all the kings of the earth thy glory. When the Lord 
shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory." (Ps. cii, 
13-22.) 

I am aware that the South is not prepared to relish this 
prospect. But I am sure that when the divine Eedeemer 
shall have prepared them for what is before them, their 
feelings and views will be wonderfully changed. Being 
enlightened, regenerated, and sanctified by the Holy Ghost, 
they will joyfully engage in a work which their hearts may 
now contemplate with a kind of disgust. 



62 NEW ENGLAND. EXTINCTION OF SLAVERY. 



DECLENSION OF RELIGION IN NEW-ENGLAND. 

Invited to attend a selected meeting in the session-room 
of Dr. Phillip's cburcli, during the sessions of the General 
Assernbl}', I went ; and although prepared to hear a sad 
account of the declension of religious truth in New-England, 
yet I was astounded to learn how far they had departed 
from evangelical truth. The inference I drew from the 
facts stated, was that God intended to chastise them for their 
declension, by giving them up to fanatical Abolitionism;* 
as he had chastised our nation for their decline in religion 
and pure morals after our Revolutionary War, by permit- 
ting a Unitarian to succeed Washington as President, 
followed by tliree infidels, in succession; the first a most 
deliberate and fanatical infidel, who poisoned the minds of 
his two successors. 

Uereafter, I believe and trust, the character of our Presi- 
dents will be far different, and such as will prepare our 
country tor the high and distinguished destiny which the 
word of prophecy seems to intimate. 



INDICATIONS THAT MY VIEWS OF THE FINAL EXTINCTION OP 
SLAVERY WILL BE REALIZED, 

They are the two following : 

First. A letter from Williamsburg, S. C, Dec. 1856.. 

From this I select the following paragraphs. 

'•Messks. Editors: — A little more llifin a year ago an unusual 
interest on the subject of religion manifested itself among ihe 
colored people, on some of the plantations in this congregation. 

* I am thankful to be able to record that our delegate to Massachusetts 
found several excellent and sound men iu that State, who thought as he did. 



EXTIKCTION OF SLAVEKT. 63 

Frequent and nnmeroiisly attended meetings at eaeli»otliei'*s houses 
continued for a length of time, in which the exercises, principally 
singing and prayers, afforded comfortable evidence that God was 
workina: salvation in the hearts of some of them. At the time of 
the Spring communion, ten of them were received into the church 
on profession of faith. Since that time seven more have been added 
to the number, all of whom, after passing several rigid examinations 
gave satisfactory evidence of a change of heart." 

Then follows the mode of instruction, which appears to 
me very judicious. It is added afterwards: 

"There is good reason to hcpe, however, that most of them are 
sheep of the Master's fold, and are plodding their way up the 
narrow path, while here and there we find some of the biightesfc 
examples of lilial faith and holy life. In no field of labor, perhaps, 
■will the faithful minister of the gospel gain more seals to his min- 
istry than among the colored population. In this place a good 
degree of attention has been given to this class of people for more 
than sixti/ years, and with encouraging results. During the last 
eiffht jeavs, more than one hundred having been received on pro- 
fession of failb, a number less than the additions of the white mem- 
bers, only in proportion to the numbers that attend statedly on the 
means of grace. 

"But we must not forget to give glory to God for what he has 
done in behalf of the other portion of our congregation." 

Lei the reader peruse the remainder, which gives a 
dehghtful account of 

"the breathing-s of the Holy Spirit on them as manifest. This was 
the third revival enjoyed by this church in a peiiod of eight years; 
and its white membership at this time is just about equal to the 
number received during that period." 

"W." 

See on the second page of the Presbyterian^ Dec. 6, 1856, 
how faithfully and earnestly the Soulliern Piesbyierian, of 
CbarlestoD, South Carolina, continues to urge on its readers 



64 ASHMUN INSTITUTE. 

the duty of,attending to the Eeligious Interests of the 
Blacks, 

My second proof is the revival and Dedication or the. 
AsHMUN Institute. 

The whole services are described by the Eev. A. Hamil- 
ton as having been dehghtfal. He writes at the commence- 
ment, " I have seldom spent a day of deeper interest than 
Wednesday, 31st nit." (December.) 

As the whole is to be published in pamphlet form, I need 
not here enlarge. It will be sufficient to state that the 
design of the Ashmun Institute is to educate colored 
youth, and qualify them to preach the gospel to persons of 
their own color, both in this country and in Africa. 



Note. — The impression resting on ray mind was, that the MigUsTi Sal/utatory 
Oration had bean assigned to me, when I graduated at the commencement of 
Columbia College in 1794. To prove that my impression was certainly cori-eet, 
I wrote to Dr. C. King, the President, for a copy of the Catalogue of that year. 
In answer to my request, he writes, "thist in my College days such Catalogues 
were not in use." 

But he has kindly sent me " A Catalogue of Columbia College," containing 
the names of the Trustees, Officers and Graduates, &o., from A. D. 175S to A. D, 
1844, inclusive. 

From this I find only my name and those of my class-mates, arranged in 
alphabetical order. As this was not conclusive, 1 was led to look over my own 
papers, written at that time, when I found that Dr. J. C. Kunze, of the German 
Lutheran Church, who continued to be a Trustee till his decease in 1807, assured 
my parents in 1794, that the Trustees all admitted that my attainments entitled 
mo to the first rank. Hence my conclusion is, ths impression that had always 
been on my mind must be correct ; because a lower honor than the English 
Salutatory could not have been assigned to me in consistency with such an 
admssion on the part of the Trustees. Peter A. Jay ha,d the Latin Salmtatory, 
and Cteus Kino the Valedictory Oration. — (See note, p. 40.) 



,f^^ f 



r 



'^Sffl*yv^,C!*«-*®!-« 






i^H?5;iif^y«i^Mge^w*2:^2^^^v^- 






'Vvg^^^UM^Mrg^^ 









'^■^^^P^^'^' 



■VW^^^w^w 



W V ^ '^ ^ 



wyywi^ 



^^^!^^^^^ 






m 



^m^t^k^)^'^^'^^^'^'^ 



^p^'^^j^m^m^^o^^^^ 









-r/jsjvvu'^ 






'*^^«te.,^^: 



^^y^«^^: 



V^^W^w 






^yC^«!»^.?P^^i 



yJi^wi^w^'^" 



''^■" - ^": ,:iUU 









w:^w^ 



;Wb»v 



■Oo'\»^:j'., 



i^^^^u^^^^WW^O^Vs^V 






' % 



-«<*SW«SS, 



fU ,: 1^, 



^wwvwy:-^^^^^^^^: 



■'W^ 



-^V'O^yn^y ^wv^^w/v jj V'^g&;,^ . , 



zi^j'-'^'^^j^^'^'^y^^mm^'^^^ 






?,«W!.«r 



m^'^ 



^^^^^0mmm^^^ 






.^■■^vwoy'v ^ ^ 






'U;:V VW. ki\j\ 



» V^WJVW^ 



VvvWlBV^f^i ^. y^gVV' W'V ^^^J:^ 






i'jy?»S^*.^">^^^^X^ 









v^vyy^^vy, 



^^^^^^W^^^w^ 



^WVvJuvvV 












' \JCJ 


















w^Wi 



Vl^Wt^ 









'^cliW 






'O'w^v* 






iiSirf^'' '"'"" 



/TiJWV 



M^V^' 



lywyu 



k'jyu**^ 















'bJ'.J^'u^''^^ 



^wwyv^y^^l 









i^wgjwgww^ 



^wwv V^*v^^ 



